All tagged Greenwillow

Married to Showtunes: A Playlist that Requires a Prenup

Married to Showtunes: A Playlist that Requires a Prenup

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

Summer is such a popular time for weddings, everyone betting the bank on happiness and receiving gifts for trying. I’m not a fan of weddings and I often find myself drifting into distraction when I’m at one. At a recent wedding, during all the pomp and circumstance and the ongoing blah blah blah, I of course had to entertain myself somehow to keep from nodding off. So, I got to thinking about showtunes about getting married and decided to make a list of them. My one rule: any song that made the list had to include the words “married” or “marriage” in its title in some form. Here is what I came up with…

More or Loesser: 15 Great Songs by Frank Loesser

More or Loesser: 15 Great Songs by Frank Loesser

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

When I sat down to write a “Top 15” list of Frank Loesser songs, the composer-lyricist behind such Broadway musical hits as Guys & Dolls, The Most Happy Fella, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, I soon realized that narrowing it down to the fifteen best would be a futile task. Loesser was such a master of melody, character development, and found wonderful places for heart in the most comedic of places. So, instead of boiling it down, I just picked 15 songs by Frank Loesser to create a playlist that I hope beyond hope that you will enjoy as much as I reveled in putting it together. More or Loesser, every single one of these is a gem. 

Remembering Greenwilllow

Remembering Greenwilllow

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

Composer-lyricist Frank Loesser enjoyed a string of Broadway musical hits: Where’s Charley?, Guys & Dolls, The Most Happy Fella, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. But, no matter how impressive a resume, most creators of Broadway musicals are going to have at least one show that refuses to work. For Frank Loesser, that troubled piece would come in the form of the 1960 musical Greenwillow. (Loesser would struggle with another show called Pleasures and Palaces that closed on the road). 

The Broadway Cast Album Easter Egg Hunt of Old

The Broadway Cast Album Easter Egg Hunt of Old

Mark Robinson
Music That Makes Me Dance

In this day of downloads, streaming, CDs, not to mention the advent of Amazon and EBay, collecting Broadway cast recordings is a relatively easy thing to do. It is nice to have the convenience of tracking down any showtune you like with a simple search on the internet. It has made Broadway and its wonderful music accessible to all, and for that these advances will always be a wonderful part of the evolution of our technology. It has, however, taken the fun out of the once-thrilling Easter egg hunt that was a big part of cast album collecting.